Off-Campus
by LadyMaito
Summary: A Bethan Short. In which Benny has an unhealthy habit of falling asleep in class and the cute teaching assistant has an even less healthy habit of being knocked over and run into. Rated K for...mild curse words? Hints of homosexuality? Enjoy.


**AN:** This has been sitting in the professional files of my iPod since mid-2014 and I haven't worked on it any more past this. I've got a few other college-themed stories, but this one in particular doesn't seem to be going anywhere, so...maybe you guys could inspire inspiration, if you would be so kind...otherwise, I don't see this little piece going anywhere further. Enjoy~?

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Benjamin 'Benny' Weir sighed as he looked at the clock for what seemed like the millionth time. Five minutes left, and his Music Appreciation professor's voice was still droning on in an odd monotone he usually saved for irritable, overly sunny days- apparently he had an odd skin sensitivity to UV rays.

'Tick tock, tick tock' Benny thought blearily and yawned. A few minutes later, he contrasted quite drastically against all the other students rushing and stumbling over themselves through the university. He walked with a slouch and a drag in his step, and suspected quite strongly that the blood vessels in his eyes were an unflattering ruby red. An English paper due the hour before had kept him up past four last night and he was paying for not doing it earlier. A quick stop at the coffee shop gave him a small jolt of energy, and he sipped his iced latte all the way up to Advanced Biology.

"Look alive, Weir." Professor McCann clapped Benny on the shoulder just as he was walking into the room and the teen offered a less than enthusiastic smile and a nod before hissing at the bright light of the room.

"It burns!" He told a passing student as he shielded his eyes and the blonde only rolled her eyes and flipped her hair before walking off. Benny eyes followed her to where she sat in the middle section next to an equally pretty brunet and he squinted as the brightness of the sun stung his eyes. He grumbled all the way to his seat, rooting through his bag for sunglasses.

Sitting down in the very back row, Benny slipped on his sunglasses and yawned again, sipping his coffee. Professor McCann was setting up the projector, presumably for a lesson plan when Benny first began to nod off. He pulled out his notepad and pen and set them next to a glass beaker of some liquid he wouldn't be needing.

'I'm done with this stupid diffusion assignment anyway' Benny thought wretchedly. 'I did this in tenth grade. I don't need this stupid lesson plan...'

Deciding to put his head down for just a minute before class began, Benny leant down and rested his head on his arms, still holding his pen.

"Hey! Wake up!" A voice hissed at Benny, and the teen twitched and gave a small groan. The voice sighed and Benny felt someone shake his shoulder.

"Wake up! Come on, I can't wait here forever."

"What?" Benny asked sleepily, sitting up and feeling his limbs stiffen in protest. He groaned again. "What time is it?"

"You slept through the whole class. You're gonna make us late." The voice had took on a tone of annoyance, and Benny yawned as he stretched, still half asleep.

"Oh, sorry." Benny replied, his voice thick as he drew his phone from his pocket. His sunglasses made the screen dimmer than it should have been. "Hell. Did McCann say anything? Did he see me?" Benny began clearing his desk and shoving things into his backpack.

"Oh yeah, he saw you." Benny's foggy mind was only just able to register that the person nagging him was a guy, who must have been the TA for the class. "Told me to wake you up while he ran to the main building."

"Oh." Benny shoved the last of his junk into his bag and stood up creakily. "Sorry about that." He stepped back, away from his stool and stretched again, turning around and leaning leisurely against the lab table. "I was so tired, I-"

Benny's grip on the edge of the table slipped and suddenly he was falling forward into the chest of the TA, and knocking over the beaker full of dark amber liquid.

"Woah!" The teaching assistant exclaimed in surprise, attempting and failing to catch Benny, catch the beaker, and hold them upright at the same time. They fell to the floor in a rather ungraceful sprawl just as a dull crashing of glass sounded and Benny managed to both hit his head and land them right next to the beaker shards.

"Boys!" McCann's voice shouted from a distance, and Benny groaned, feeling his head throb and a sudden sharp, hot pain in his shoulder when he moved away from the TA. When he opened his eyes there were dark spots here and there that turned to bright colors before they faded and then he was gazing into warm brown eyes. The voice was still yelling. "Are you okay? What happened!?"

"I think he hit his head." The TA's worried voice sounded a little like it was coming from the end of a long tunnel.

"He's okay." McCann's comforting tone made even made Benny settle down, even if he wasn't all that worried to begin with. "Weir? You okay, son?"

"Mm...hmm?" Benny hummed and sighed deeply. "Yeah."

"He slipped, sir." The TA said and Benny felt himself being pulled up, into a much comfier chair than before. "He fell onto me and knocked over his beaker."

"Sorry." Benny apologized, more awake than he had been before, and shakily stood up. "Sorry about the beaker, and hey, sorry about falling on you-"Benny stopped short as he took in the sight of the TA standing before him.

As Benny stood, he observed that the other teen- he had to be a teen - was a few inches shorter, and also one of the most attractive people he'd seen at the university.

"You're the TA?" Benny asked, unable to keep the awe out of his voice.

"Get some sleep tonight, Benny." McCann's disapproving voice interrupted Benny's thoughts. "You get clumsy when your tired. Are you alright? Did you get cut?"

"I think so." Benny said dazedly, still looking at the flustered TA who was brushing off his sweater. "On my back.."

"Ooh, Benny." The professor said as he turned the teen this way and that, lifting his shirt carefully to get a better look. "You may need a few stitches. Mr. Morgan, are you hurt?"

"No, sir...we'll, maybe a scratch."

'Morgan' Benny mused, only vaguely aware of the hot stinging in his back and shoulder. 'Must be a last name. The guy doesn't look like a Morgan.' The other teen was taking off his hoodie and Benny could now identify the sweet smell of maple syrup that must've been in the beaker. A few smudges of the thick, sweet liquid still clung to the TA's jawline and knuckles, and Benny couldn't imagine a time when he craved the sticky substance more.

"I can clean up the mess if you want."

"Thank you, but never mind that, Morgan, and get to your next class. I don't have a class for another hour, and I believe this one requires medical attention." Turning to Benny, the professor sighed. "You're in luck, Mr. Weir. Professor Giovanni's wife is downstairs and she's a nurse. If we're quick and ask nicely enough she may be willing to drive you back to the hospital with her when her lunch break ends."

"See you later Professor." The Morgan guy walked swiftly through the doors and out of the room with a fleeting smile, leaving Benny with a little disappointment and a strong wish to follow him.

'Morgan' Benny wondered to himself, watching the boy walk down the hall. 'What comes before your last name, gorgeous? It has to be your last name.' A slow smile graced his lips when the boy glanced back at him with those bright brown eyes before turning away again and disappearing around a turn.

Lean and lightly muscled with brunet curls, clear, fair skin, and warm chocolate eyes? That shy, quiet voice? A teachers assistant? He was gorgeous and smart!?

'Forget stuck up blondes.' Benny thought dreamily. 'I prefer stuck up brunette's.'

"That was you're TA?" Benny asked.

"That was him." McCann replied. "Mr. Morgan's one of my top students, much like yourself."

"Why didn't I ever see him in class?"

"As I seem to recall, you snored and drooled your way through most of it, Benny." Benny scowled and his cheeks reddened ever so slightly. "Except for that time you woke up a bit and told your lab partner to feed the canary, whatever you mean by that."

"I meant before today!"

"I know what you meant." The professor smiled. "His schedule just got flipped around, is all. He'll be in you're Biology hour for the remainder of the semester."

"Oh..." Benny grimaced lightly and brushed at his sleeve. "Sir, about earlier..."

"Mr. Weir, you finished that assignment days ago." McCann shrugged. "If I actually thought you needed help understanding diffusion, I would've woken you. It's okay." He fixed Benny with a stern look. "But I highly suggest you use your time off to get some much needed rest, Weir. Don't make it a habit. You have more bags under those eyes than the coffee shop downstairs."

"Thank you, sir. It won't happen again."

Throughout the entire day, Benny couldn't stop thinking about the Biology TA.

That didn't stop the hell he caught from his Grandma for being so clumsy. She'd rushed over to his apartment when he told her and was staying the next couple of nights.

"Benjamin, I'd have thought that you'd learned your lesson about falling asleep in class." Grandma scolded after she'd calmed down. She'd fussed over his cuts and scrapes for over ten minutes, tearing off the bandages and examining the wounds for herself before rewrapping them and sitting him down on the couch. "Remember the time Rory drew all over your face in permanent marker? It didn't come off for over four days, and-"

"I get it, Grandma!" Benny scowled. "I got him back, anyway. Nothing like a little hot pepper powder in someone's underwear to..." He trailed off at the look is Grandma shot him. "Whatever. It's not like I meant to fall asleep. I was up past four last night working on a stupid fictional history essay."

"You should've got it done sooner, Benny." Grandma sighed, and placed a soft hand on his cheek. "Get some rest, my boy. I'll make dinner and a healing paste right away and have you up and running in no time." Benny smiled and thanked her, standing up carefully, not wanting to tear the bandages off.

Four hours of sleep, two anointments of herbal cream, a healthy dinner, and several bandages later Benny was feeling sated but kind of run down. Especially after Rory showed up with a stack of papers that Benny was horrified to find we're his assignments and homework for the day. ("And the next day for Biology, since he wasn't sure if you were gonna show tomorrow." Rory pointed out.)

"I guess I should get started on all this." Benny pouted, and grabbed the nearest textbook on his desk. Advanced Calc. "I can't believe I knocked over a beaker and fell on it...I can't believe I fell on the TA." Benny slapped a hand over his eyes.

"You assaulted McCann's teaching assistant?"

"I didn't assault him! I slipped and fell on him." Benny scowled before his mind wandered to the cute assistant. Before he knew it he was smiling, and Rory was looking at him funny. "It was awesome."

"You okay?" Rory asked, blue eyes curious. "You do know that you injured yourself and made a sharp, sticky mess of our Bio lab, right?"

"Dude, the TA is so hot." Benny sighed, remembering the sight of those big bright eyes glancing back at him.

"The...guy TA?" Rory asked hesitantly before grinning mischievously. "I'd never thought you'd swing that way."

"I don't." Benny protested. "Just for him."

"That's so cute." Rory said with a hint of amusement. "Do you even know the poor guy's name?"

"I know his last name."

"Which would be...?"

"Morgan." Benny said, so thoughtfully that Rory actually paused for a moment. "It's his last name, I think."

"Should I Facebook him?" Rory asked suddenly, moving to sit at Benny's desk and pushing away all the clutter to open his laptop. "Or cyber-stalk him? I could find out his first name for you, he has to have friends somewhere, and I've been working on this new hack-"

"No! I wanna ask him myself!" Benny shook his head and smiled. 'It's an excuse to talk to him' he thought, not wanting to say it out loud.

"You're falling in love." Rory deadpanned only half jokingly from his position in front of the laptop.

"I think I might be." Benny grinned and sighed, before beginning his homework in a slight daze.

The next couple days passed in a blur. Grandma insisted that Benny take another day off to rest off an almost-concussion, and he was devastated to find the TA absent from his Biology class the day he came back.

He did, however, see him on the way to the cafeteria-uh...ran into him, more like.

Like, right into him. The guy's tray of food flew all over the place, and his purple button-up was soaked through with a dark, sweet-smelling drink. At the angry huff he heard, Benny tried to look less starstruck and more sorry.

"Sorry! Didn't see you there." Benny apologized, and immediately began to clean up the salad and fruit that had fallen to the floor, aware that some of the people passing by were snickering. TA Morgan's face was slightly flushed as he dabbed at his shirt and previously white tie before seeming to deem it pointless and throwing the napkin into his tray.

"Yeah, well, watch where your going next time." The other teen sighed heavily and looked down at himself again in distaste. "I have a presentation today."

"Sorry, really." Benny replied, still staring at the other male, even as he wiped what appeared to be grape juice off the floor with a fallen stack of napkins. The TA didn't seem to notice. "I was distracted."

'Thinking about you' he added silently. Morgan only spared him an irritated glance and gathered up the rest of his spilled lunch.

"Whatever. Thanks." The word seemed to have a double meaning as Benny took the tray from the floor and stood. As the other boy stood, be truly began to feel kind of bad- how was he supposed to win this boys affections if he was klutzing around like this all the time? He'd just ruined another one of the guy's shirts!

"You're welcome." Benny smiled, though the TA wasn't looking. "Sorry about your lunch...and the shirt. Can I buy you another one?"

"Lunch or a shirt?"

"L-" Benny stopped short. "Well, both I guess. I kind of owe you. This is the second time now. I kind of make a habit of it, don't I?" That caught the boys attention and Benny's eyes finally met his. The TA seemed to pause for a second before smiling slightly and taking the tray from Benny's hands.

"Hey, your the guy from Biology yesterday." Benny shrugged and waved with his newly bandaged wrist. "How's the arm?"

"Stitched and wrapped up tight." Benny smiled again. "How about you? No cuts and bruises?"

"A few, but I'm not complaining." TA Morgan shrugged. "I'm Ethan by the way. Ethan Morgan."

"Ethan Morgan." Benny swallowed, trying to stop himself before he said anything stupid. But suddenly it seemed that 'Ethan Morgan' was the most attractive name he'd heard, ever, and he was pretty sure his brain was close to short-circuiting. The pounding of his heart and the sight of those bright brown eyes looking back at his own wasn't helping a bit. What was the other boy thinking about?

"Can I buy you lunch?" Benny found himself asking again. The other boy looked taken aback.

"Uh...actually, I need to run home and change my clothes. I have an important presentation in less than an hour." Ethan shrugged.

"I could take your tray back for you." Benny offered, not allowing his enthusiasm to dull even a little.

"Thanks but it's okay, I'm heading back that way anyway." The guy began to walk backward and without thinking, Benny followed.

"Hey, sorry about yesterday." Benny apologized. "I'm Benny, by the way."

"Cool." The brunette sounded distracted. "And it's alright, you slipped. It wasn't your fault."

"I was tired. I need to get more sleep." Benny replied.

"Well, don't we all have that problem?" They talked for a while longer until Ethan casually hinted that he had to run out to his car and Benny said bye before changing directions. That was the first day ever that he'd been late to Calc.

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 **AN** : Well, there you have it, sorry for any errors, you're welcome to correct me. I'm creativity-dead past this point, seriously. And to anyone who reads this and follows my other stories, I promise I am in the process of working on them. Which one should I update first? I'm really going to try and finish off some of my stories to make way for others. Within the week, I should have another chapter or two up.

By the way, guys I graduated! :D Bros, I am a college kid now! I start my first classes on Tuesday, "Fundamentals of Public Speaking" and yeah I am kind of excited, but...believe it or not, I'm a girl of few words. I'm not a very social creature. I like books. I like anime. I like taking walks alone in the thunder and rain and minding my own business. I like food. This class is gonna be hell. But a small, embarrassing step in the right direction, right? Plus I have "Early Childhood Education" where i get to learn about the development of little kids and that makes me happy.

Happy Summer!


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